Howl-O-Ween!

 

This year Halloween was quite fun.  After that horrible day when you realize you're too old to Trick-or-Treat Halloween just never seemed to be as fun.  When Stetzen came around, it changed things up and Halloween's excitement returned.  We were a little late in getting things kicked off.  I had planned on taking Stetzen to a pumpkin patch, but between Zach's schedule and trips we never made it, so we opted for the Wal-Mart specials. 

Stetzen loves to be involved in EVERYTHING we do, so why not helping his dad draw and cut his pumpkin?  We ended up carving pumpkins the night before Halloween.  Zach was working days, so Stetzen and I cleaned out the pumpkins before he got home, and then we got down to working our magic. 



As you can see, Stetzen is very excited about his wolf.

 

Once we finished, Stetzen had to show off his masterpieces (completed with the help of Zach and I).

 

The next day, our ward held a Trunk-or-Treat party.  They had dinner, carnival games, and, of course, Trunk-or-Treating.  I wanted to go with a theme this year, so I chose Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Stetzen was my little Oompa Loompa, I was Veruca Salt, and Zach was Mike Teevee.  I had planned on Brandon being Wonka and his parents on dressing up with us, but it never panned out.  So we were a few characters short.  For the trunk, I decorated it as Wonka's Factory.  It didn't turn out quite as I liked, but we ended up winning the Best Trunk Award...YAY!

 

When we got to the party, everyone kept asking me what Stetzen and I were supposed to be.  I was floored that no one 1) knew what an Oompa Loompa was, and 2) had seen the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie.  Major culture shock!  Not even Stetzen's Grandma Nancy had seen the movie.  Zach had to work on Halloween too, so it was only Ted and me to represent.  
 

 

After the dinner, Grandma Nancy took Ted around to do all of the games.  He went around the cake walk, bowled, and tried the fishing pond.  Of all of them, he really loved the fishing pond.  He won a couple of scary sling spiders (which he LOVED) and some stickers.
  

 

 

When it came time to Trunk-or-Treat, he was ready for bed!  How sad is that?  We made the rounds with Brands, and of all the candy he got, his favorite was a cookie he got from Nella Rae.  Overall, I think he had fun and enjoyed all the attention he got.
 

 

 

When we got home, we did a little photo op with Zach, took a bath to wash out his cool green hair, and went to bed.  I hope he had a fun night because I did especially since Zach and I could ration his candy haul (the biggest perk of a parent's Halloween!).

Baby, I Look Good!

 

This weekend, Stetzen and I went down to Rupert to go to the annual craft fair.  It's a tradition and one I don't like to miss.  The booths were all amazing, and I was tempted to buy hundreds of dollars of crafts, but managed to get out without buying a thing.  I think sometimes that I'm a too much of a tightwad, lol.  After the event, my mom, Kate, and I went to King's to pick up some things and the fun really began.  All I can say is that my little guy is the cutest boy model ever!  We found some hats and tried them on and had a ball.  I should have bought the Davey Crockett hat.  It was definitely the cutest and funniest.

 



 

 

The Bambi Killer pt. 2

  

Once again, we made the trek up to Horse Creek  to go elk hunting.  Much to my dismay, it was cold, rainy, and miserable outside!  I like to go hunting with Zach, but not when the weather is that crappy.  Nevertheless, I survived and enjoyed it somewhat.  Not only did we go, but his mom and dad, Brands, and Josh & Kayla.  They made up for all the bad weather because I had someone to chill with while the boys were gone.

 

 

In an attempt to rid himself as "The Bambi Killer," Zach was determined to get nothing other than Mega Bull.  The first morning they went up Zach saw and shot at a huge bull, but missed.  He boasts about his shooting skills and emphasizes that he never misses.  His excuse for missing was that he really didn't try to shoot him.  But I would say that he tried and failed miserably.  He got harassed about it the rest of the trip.

 

 

Over the next couple days, the weather got worse and we pretty much got rained out.  After being drenched up on the mountain on the second day, they decided to go to Pinedale to wash their clothes and went out for dinner.  It was a nice brake from the cold and mud. 

 

 

By the end of it all, Zach, Brands, and their dad all shot elk.  Brands again turned out to be the mega hunter, with a good sized 6 point.  Both Zach and his dad shot 5 points, of which his dad shot the bigger, but not by much.  This trip did not help Zach's cause in ridding himself of being "The Bambi Killer," so the name still holds!

While the boys were gone, Stetzen was determined to have as much fun as he could.  He absolutely loved being outside and being able to run all over the campsite.  He was obsessed with walking down the dirt trail to the main road.  On one of his mad dashes, he tripped over a rock and face planted it right into the dirt.  At first he just had this look of complete shock, then came the crying.  I rushed over to make sure he was okay, and couldn't help but laugh at the dirty mess I came to rescue.  He only cried for about 30 sec so I had to get a pic of the drama.



He also loves the horses and always wants to play with them, so when Zach got back from the mountain, he got his ride on trusty Rocky.  He loved it and didn't want to get off.  I definitely think we have a true cowboy on our hands. 

All in all, we all had a good time, but were more than ready to get home. 

Zach couldn't help but get a pic with Brands' elk.

Goodbye Goldilocks

I finally broke down and decided to cut Ted's hair.  His cousin Caige is a couple months older and has yet to have his hair cut.  The poor kid is rocking a mullet.  I got a few comments about Ted becoming mullet number two, so I decided...off with his hair!

 



 

Here is the infamous before shot. It's time to say goodbye to the mini mullet buddy!  From the picture you'd think he was saying, "You'll never get my hair!  Not if it's the last thing I do you crazy person!"  Believe me, if I had a choice, I'd keep his curls.  It's sad to see your little man to outgrow his baby days and become a toddler. 

 

 

This picture doesn't do him justice, but he really did have cute curls on the back of his hair and I miss them terribly!

 



 

As for the haircutting experience, he did pretty well. I was worried that he'd grab the clippers and cut himself. I always picture those hazard signs with the stick figure people mutilating themselves when it comes to things like this, so to prevent a fingerless child I gave him a dum dum sucker. It worked wonderfully and he enjoyed the whole event!

 

  I let Zach do the honors of cutting while I documented the whole ordeal.  I should have been a little more prepared and got a nice before and after shot, but Stetzen's photo patience is limited.  But, it's forever engraved in the blog world so it'll be ok.  I can't get over the cute faces he made while we cut his hair.  I had a hard time staying behind the camera to take pictures because it was too funny.

 

After ten minutes of cutting we have the proud new toddler owning his newly cut do.  I think he lost a lot of his baby look, which is so sad, but this momma is going to roll with the punches and embrace her handsome little boy!  He looks so darn cute.  Once it was cut, I think he looks a lot like his cousin Wyatt.  I never thought he looked like any of them before, but it's amazing how much a haircut can change your appearance!  

Bambi Killer

 

The hunting season this year was shorter than most. Good for me, bad for Zach! Lately Zach has been obsessed with crossbows and compound bows. Pamida, the local home goods store, was going out of business and had a crossbow on clearance. Of course, Zach had to buy one. From the moment we brought it home, he was bragging about how he was going to be THE MEGA HUNTER because he could sneak up on any deer, including mega buck, and put it down in one shot.

Well, after two or three attempts of trying to be sneaky and the deer clearly being much smarter, he failed to even get close enough to get a shot off. He claimed he didn't have time to shoot one with the bow after that and moved on to his trusted gun.

About a week later, his brother Brands and his dad came over to the place to hunt some deer. Well, two fairly large bucks happened to be grazing on the fields and Brands managed to get a shot off and killed a fairly large buck.  It was an 8x8 and ranked third in the Wyoming Trucks Big Buck Contest, Non-Typical Category.

Zach vowed he'd get a larger one, and scoured the place to find the other buck. He never found him, so he ended up taking what he thought to be comparable to Brands'. When we went to go see the deer, a 4x5.  It was much smaller, but would have been a nice buck in a year or two.

From that day, Zach got a new nickname as "The Bambi Killer." He absolutely hates it, but it's funny!

The Ladies' Man

 

Stetzen is becoming quite the ladies' man.  Every time we go to the store or anywhere outside the house he turns his flirt on.  Last week while shopping at Wal-Mart he said hi to everyone we saw.  He looks at them with this sweet little smile and is so excited to say hi, and oh does the charm work.  If you're ever having a bad day, let me know and we'll come say hello because he can make anyone smile.  He definitely has the cutest little personality growing.  No wonder children are God's choicest beings!  They truly show the best that we, as a people, can be.

And to you Brands, you have some major competition so you better get your game on! 

Man I'm Getting Old...LOL

This year I turned a whopping 26.  I'm beginning to feel a little old.  It seems like I just barely graduated from college, but here I am three years later with a husband and an energetic 1 year old!  It's amazing how fast time goes this days.  That's something that my parents used to always say, and I thought that was just old people talk.  Now look who's the old person!

This year for my birthday, we kept it pretty simple and low key.  Zach worked a grave the night before and when he came home that morning, he brought me a cheesecake platter (YUM!) and a movie.  How sweet! 

After he got some sleep, we went out and rounded up some cows for his dad, then went into town to celebrate at Don Pedro's with his mom, dad, and brother Brands.  Most of you will have no clue what this place is, but it's probably got the best Mexican food you can find.  I love it! 

All in all, it was a good day, and I loved spending it with my family!  Here's to another 70 years baby!

(Sorry for the lack of pictures, I never seem to remember to take any for my birthday.  I'll have to enlist Zach to manage that responsibility I guess!)

It's Picture Time...Say Cheese!

 

 I can finally say we have some "official" family pictures.  I've been wanting them for a while now, and finally got around to taking them.  It was an interesting experience because I took all the pictures, yes even with me in them.  Last Christmas Zach got me a remote for my camera that lets me set up the shot and then take the picture from anywhere I want.  It's a lot nicer than trying to run back and forth from the camera to get into the shot.  Can I say I LOVE my Nikon! 



My Favorite Shot of Ted!

 

 It was a little tricky trying to get Stetzen to cooperate, though.  He does alright when there's someone behind the camera giving him funny faces and making him smile, but when we're all in front of the camera, it was hard to get him to even look in the right direction.  Finally, I got him to see the red light on my camera when I pushed my clicker and got a couple of him actually looking at the camera.  Needless to say, it only took about 20 tries.

 

 

All in all, I think they turned out pretty good.  The only regret I have okay, the only two regrets, are 1) I wish I would have picked a better coordinating outfit for Stetzen and Zach and 2) I was banking on the fact the leaves had turned in the area I wanted to go.  The leaves had changed around the area so I assumed that farther down the road, by farther I mean a 10-15 minute drive, they would be the same.  I should never assume anything!  I always tend to be wrong when I do.  To comment on the first regret...the groupings worked good between Zach and me and Stetzen and me, but there were too many plaids going on when you put the boys, yes I mean boys, together.  

This is my favorite group shot of us :)

 

By the time I took this shot, Ted was finished taking pictures.  His tolerance of the camera only lasts about 5 minutes, and I think by the time we got to this one, it'd been around 30.  Poor kid, he's always going to be trailed by a camera, lol.

My Favorite Couple Shot!



I'm hoping that one day in the future I'll be confident enough to take pictures professionally.  I like to do it, but I'm absolutely petrified of messing up and not getting the photos people want.  For now my poor family will have to be my test subjects.  As far as Zach goes, he'd rather be trampled by a horse than get his picture taken, but I managed to get him to say yes to this little adventure.  I guess that just shows who runs my household!

It's Birthday Time...Bring on the Tractors

 

I wanted Stetzen's first birthday to be a special one, so I invited close friends and family to come celebrate our little guy's big day.  Little did I know, the worlds were conspiring against me.  I had planned to have his party at Centennial Park in Evanston and then go swimming at the Evanston Rec Pool.  I called the Monday before the party to make sure the pool would be open, and they informed me that they were going to be doing maintenance on it and it would be closed.  So, the swimming got nixed.  That Monday, a man in my ward died, and as ward organist, I was asked to play for the funeral, which was the same day as Stetzen's party.  Now things were getting a little too stressful.  The time of the party would still work, but I would be cutting it VERY CLOSE to get there and set up before everyone came.  Well, the funeral did not run too long and I was able to squeeze in the time to get down there, but with little to no time to decorate.  When we got there, the wind was blowing 100 mph and it was starting to sprinkle.  So, at the last minute I had to ask Zach's sweet sister if we could move the party there.  I felt bad to intrude, bad that the great party ideas I had were essentially null and void, and disappointed that all my decorations didn't get set up.

 

Now for the GOOD!  As you can see, we went with a John Deere Tractor/Farm theme for the BIG 1st Birthday.  I made the cakes myself, and had a difficult time pulling off the tractor cake for Stetzen.  I think I tried 2-3 different times and finally settled with what he got.  It did it's purpose and he loved it!

 

We had a lunch planned with the party and order Subway sandwiches.  Each item on the menu tied in with the farm/John Deere theme.  We had a Veggie Garden (sandwich veggies), Pig Slop (jello), Feed Row (sandwiches), and the Water trough (drinks).  I thought it was fun to have and will probably try to do something like this for each special birthday!

When we gave Stetz his cake and candle to blow out, he really didn't know what to do or what was going on.  After a little coxing we got him to blow out the candle and his cousin Jake helped him dig into his cake.  I think Jake enjoyed it more than he did!  By the end of it, the cake was unrecognizable and frosting ended up in his hair, ears, and all over his face and hands.  I think that was the best moment to watch and enjoy with him.

 

When it came time for presents, he opened up Aunt Jen's gift first.  Once he saw the toy cars, he was done!  He loves pushing cars around and we had a hard time getting him to want to open the other gifts.  

 

His Aunt Rach got him a farm puzzle which was so cute!  He also loves animals, so it was perfect!



My cousin MicKenzie and her husband Trevor were able to come and got him cars and a car mat.  I remember driving cars with my brother over one of these when I was younger, so I'm sure he will love to do the same.  Again, once he saw the cars, he was hooked and we started all over on trying to get him to open up gifts.

 

My parents gave Stetz a barn and farm animals.  I know he'll love this too!  As I said earlier, he loves animals.  I guess it's a good thing we live on a ranch where he can see and play with them all growing up!  Zach had a barn and animals too growing up and that CONSUMED his time at home.  It's fun to see our interests showing in Stetz as early as this!  I love him!

 

Finally, Zach and I gave Stetzen a wagon.  He loves riding in his stroller and pushing things so we thought this would be a fun gift for him to have.  He and Jake both loved it!

 

I hope his birthday was one to remember!  I'm sure he won't remember it, but maybe looking back he'll enjoy the moments we did.  We love this little guy and can't believe it's already been a year since he first came to us!  We are truly blessed and enjoy everything he brings to our family.

My, My, a Year Gone By!

 

Has it really already been a year since this handsome little boy became mine?  I can't believe it!  The time has gone by so fast!  Before I know it, he'll be graduating high school and leaving home.  Let's hope that doesn't come too fast!

 

Growth Stats:

Weight:  21 lbs 11 oz

Height:  30 inches

 

Milestones:

Plays Peek-A-Boo

Walks!

 

World, watch out because Stetzen is cruising on two feet instead of his hands and knees!  It seemed to take him a little while to figure out the walking but once he did, he cruised right into 5th gear!  This little boy is on the move and he can't get there fast enough!  I am both excited and sad to see this day come.  Excited because he's progressing and sad because he is getting older and bigger.  Some days I wish that he could always just stay a little baby, but I know that can't happen.  I enjoy every milestone he reaches and all the new things he does and says now.  He learns so fast I don't think I'll be able to keep up with him!

 

 

I love this picture of Stetzen!  Every night (including nap time) Stetzen has to have his stuffed animals.  They are his safety nets as you will for going to bed.  When I put him down, I give him all his animals, but as of late, his favorite is his elephant.  When I went to check up on him during one of his naps, I saw him all cuddled up to his elephant.  It was so precious that I had to take this picture!  Priceless I think!

 

This boy is such a happy kid!  Everything is all smiles and laughs unless it's nap time.  In addition to all his toys, he LOVES playing on the computer.  I had to set up a play gate to keep him off of it when I was working on it.  If not, I would be missing a keyboard and mouse! 



And finally, I have to share one of Stetzen's all time obsessions...Diet Coke (or any pop for that matter)!  I have my wonderful husband to thank for my now one year old's love of pop.  We went to Browning's and got him his very own pop while we ate.  I'm sure he thought he was in heaven.  I know most people might think that we are horrible parents for allowing it, but I let him splurge on an already prevalent addiction.  One day I hope he will get sick of it, and be a water kid!  Here's to dreaming!

And for the last monthly photo...here is Stetzen at his 12 month photo!  I love this little guy!